U.S. Pat. No. 3,464,040 to David B. Powell discloses a compact circuit breaker construction for manufacturing one-half inch residential "Q" type circuit breakers. The circuit breaker components are designed for fabrication on mass production equipment and are economically obtained. The assembly of the individual components during the manufacturing process entails some time to assure that the components are interconnected in the proper manner. Further time is required to individually calibrate each breaker to determine whether the breaker trips within a prescribed time interval for a fixed test current. Should a breaker fail to trip within the prescribed time limit, the breaker must be set aside for later calibration. A detailed understanding of the compact breaker components can be obtained by referring to the Powell patent, which is incorporated herein for purposes of reference.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a residential circuit breaker of economic design which can be completely assembled and tested for calibration in an automated assembly process.